The Stuff of Myths
by Sandileina
Summary: Direct sequel to ‘Blame it On the Damn Vodka’. Niou has a good, long, snarky talk with Shishido. And Shishido makes a couple of decisions.


**Disclaimer: **Here's a random fact: Tomatoes don't watch you in the shower. Here's another random fact: I don't own Prince of Tennis, or any of the characters. :)

**Rating: **… You know how bad I am at rating these… probably PG…

**Warnings: **Shounen-ai, Niou, some language

**Summary: **Direct sequel to 'Blame it On the Damn Vodka'. Niou has a good, long, snarky talk with Shishido. And Shishido makes a couple of decisions.

**Author's notes:** Another Rikkai Drabblething. **You don't have to have read the ones that come before this, but it might help a bit. **The drabblething list goes:

**Times of Stress**

**Passing the Time**

**How to ask out Marui Bunta**

**Four Days Later**

**October Ice**

**Because I Love You**

**Evil**

**Further Nonsense**

**Dear Diary**

**Kind of… the same**

**100 Word Challenges**

**Driver in a Hurry, Child in a Coma**

**Doctor, doctor!**

**The Woes of Solomon Grundy**

**I'm Not Going**

**The Little Things**

**I Had To**

**He WHAT?!**

**Operation: Christmas Party**

**Being Fukubuchou**

**Once Upon a Time**

**My Brother Bunta**

**Dear Diary: Living with Niou-senpai**

**A Morning at the Pool**

**This is Love**

**SFRR**

**And So It Begins**

**Most Unexpected**

**This Is March 5th**

**No Small Wonder**

**The Last Day Of A Stage in Life**

**Back to Basics**

**Blame it On the Damn Vodka**

**Papercuts**

**The Stuff of Myths**

If you haven't read 'Blame it On the Damn Vodka', then you will probably be lost as a penguin-shaped icecube in the Sahara.

I was hoping to update when 24 people reviewed 'BiOtDV', but it's been over a week now, so… yeah… Here it is! Thanks to everyone who reviewed both Vodka and Papercuts, anyways. n.n I love you all to bits.

And, yay, the thirty-fifth Drabblething:o You should know by now that multiples of five aren't good numbers for the Rikkai boys… Just so you're pre-warned… ;p

Still, obviously, taking place on April first. n.n

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Niou considered his options as he looked down at the figure standing on his doorstep.

Option one: Answer the door and see why he was here. Option two: Pretend not to be home. Option three: Break a leg so that getting the door wasn't physically an option. Option four: Find a disguise and pretend to be someone else.

That option seemed like quite a good idea, actually… But, damnit, his Yagyuu wig was at Yagyuu's house.

"Stupid Hiroshi," Niou muttered, irritated and running out of time as the doorbell rang again. "I _knew_ he was the evil overlord of our age…"

Alright, alright, fine. Calm down, 'Haru. What would Mura do?

… Damn. Mura would get the door.

Niou swore colourfully under his breath and reluctantly trudged downstairs. He opened the door, resisting the urge to yank it open instead, and leant as casually as he could (which was pretty damn casually, even if Niou did say so himself) against the doorframe.

"Sorry, we already have double-glazing," he said, noting with a sense of relieved satisfaction that Shishido looked twice as uncomfortable as Niou felt.

Shishido gave him a half-hearted scowl and shoved his hands even further into his pockets. "I'm not selling double-glazing."

"No? My bad. Raffle tickets, then? I might buy those, actually."

"Look, can I come in?" Shishido asked, obviously suppressing his growing annoyance.

"Depends. Are you going to infest the house with dimension-warping kittens from Mars?"

"What? No!"

"Well, alright then. But you'd better be quick, cos the furniture can only resist attacking strangers for so long." Niou opened the door a bit wider and gestured Shishido in.

"You mean you, rather than the furniture, don't you?" muttered Shishido, taking off his shoes.

Niou kicked the door shut and passed him, heading for the living room. "Smart boy."

They sat down, Niou slouching over an armchair, Shishido sitting on a sofa opposite, fidgeting very slightly.

"So?" Niou prompted brusquely.

"I just came cos… I dunno, I just want some answers."

"Can't Atobe help you with your homework?"

"You _know_ that's not what I'm talking about. Can you just not be flippant for two minutes? You're really not making this any easier for me."

"I'm not? Gee, I'm sorry, I didn't realise that you're actually one of my best friends in disguise. Would you like a cookie?"

Shishido actually opened his mouth angrily to take the bait, but shut it with an effort before any words could come out. _Jeez… he must really want to talk to me_, Niou thought with a sinking feeling.

"I'm going to ask you a question," Shishido said, exercising his patience for the first time in a long time, "and I'd like a straight answer. Is that too much to ask?"

"Just the one question?"

"Well, no, a few questions. With straight answers for each."

Niou shrugged with one shoulder. "I might try. Ask away."

"Do you have a crush on Choutarou?" Shishido asked, diving right in in his usual manner.

"Yes."

"Was it you who sent him that card?"

"I send lots of people lots of cards," shrugged Niou, obviously lying to buy himself some time. "Describe it to me."

In answer, Shishido fished it out of his pocket, showing but not giving it to Niou. It had a carefully drawn, partially coloured picture of a silver phoenix on the front, flying up out of a tree towards a crescent moon. Niou pretended to study it, then said, "Eh, it looks vaguely familiar. How d'you know it was meant for him, anyway?"

"Hyoutei's tennis team isn't stupid, Niou. Who else could it be for? Choutarou has silver hair, and his family name means 'phoenix', or some sort of legendary bird."

"Hmm."

"So did you send it?"

"Yes. Not like you had any doubt."

"Well, it could have been Orikasa-kun. He's in Choutarou's class, and he's really good at art. Marui says you can't draw."

"When did he say that?"

"Can't remember. Might've been at the party."

Oh, here we go, Niou thought resignedly. It had only been a matter of time before the party came up, really.

But to his surprise, Shishido said next, "How long did it take? Oshitari said it would have taken well over an hour for someone who was good at drawing, and used to it too. And he's a guy who knows his art."

Dunno. A while, probably."

"You said you would give me straight answers," Shishido said impatiently.

"I said I might try." They stared each other down until Niou finally shrugged and looked away. "Che. About three."

"Hours?"

"No, centuries, idiot."

Shishido managed to ignore the barb again. He dropped his eyes to the card and studied it a moment. When he looked up again there was an unusually solemn look on his face and he said quietly, "Why go through that much effort when you can barely force yourself out of the house to do something fun for yourself?"

The question threw Niou a second, and he said automatically, "Says who?"

"Says Yagyuu-san."

"Yagyuu-_san_?"

Now it was Shishido's turn to shrug. "Hey, I respect the guy. He's a gentleman, unli – he's a gentleman."

"Matter of opinion," Niou muttered.

"So? Why the effort for the card?"

"Why not?" Niou lobbed back defensively. "A guy should get a nice card for his birthday."

"You sent it on the thirtieth. Of _March_."

"His late birthday."

"Saying inside, 'Don't worry, the third year is a lot better than the second. Especially with all the current third-years gone. Just kidding; I know that's largely why you're stressing out. Remember that you can't capture a phoenix in any human cage'?"

"I was _gonna_ put 'happy birthday' on the end, but my pen ran out of ink."

"… That's such a blatant lie."

Niou sighed and rolled his eyes, pretending not to care as he said, "Well done Sherlock, you caught me. So I thought he could use cheering up."

"How did you know what he was worrying about?"

"My IQ happens to be a lot higher than the average person, thanks. 'Sides, that's what's been getting the bratling down lately, so…"

There was another short, awkward silence in which Niou looked wistfully at the coffee pot in the kitchen and Shishido studied the card unseeingly.

"You really like him, huh?" he said finally. "It's not exactly a short distance from your house to Hyoutei."

"It's not that long. Me and Maru go there all the time, as you know."

"Still. The card plus the delivery was a lot of effort. You must like him a lot."

Niou side-stepped the question. "I could accuse you of the same."

"I'm not _accusing_, I'm asking."

"You want a straight answer?"

"… Yeah."

"Then yeah, I do. It started as a game, then meaningless flirting, and now I'm bloody _tingling_ when he looks at me. Happy?"

The unexpected honesty surprised Shishido, and he very nearly said, 'Really?'. But he didn't.

Instead, he stood up, tucking the card carefully into his pocket again.

"Sorry for bothering you," he said. "I've got my answers now, thanks."

"Gonna tell me to stay away from him?" Niou challenged.

"Would you if I did?"

"Hell no."

"Then there wouldn't be a point, would there? I might not be a genius like you or your captain, but I'm far from stupid."

"Che. Fair enough." Niou got up too, wanting Shishido gone before he could start asking about the party. He'd nearly asked after Shishido's ribs during the first awkward silence, but he knew that that would only lead to more difficult questions.

"Goodbye, then," Shishido said, heading out the door.

"Bye." Niou nearly shut the door, but then a last-minute thought occurred to him and he pulled it wider again. "Hey, wait a sec," he called. Shishido paused, half turning.

"What?"

"… Did he like the card?" Niou immediately regretted asking; he sounded so pathetically hopeful. Damn, damn, _damn_…

Shishido chewed the inside of his lip a moment, then said, "I don't know. I'll ask, if you like."

"Oh?" Niou was stunned by the offer, but said quickly, "Sure. If you remember."

"Ok." Shishido started walking again. Niou watched him go a moment, and then shut the door.

He leant back against it, shutting his eyes and exhaling slowly.

"Coffee," he said aloud. "Coffee solves everything."

He jumped as the doorbell rang, and cursed under his breath. "What _now_?" he growled, opening it.

"My god, there's no blood! The world's coming to an end!"

Oh, _yay_. "What the hell are you yapping about, idiot?"

"We just saw Shishido-san crossing the street," Akaya piped up, standing on tiptoe to look over Marui's shoulder. "He didn't look hurt, so we figured he must've knocked you unconscious with a bottle."

"Yeah, or shot you," Marui nodded, pushing his way past a protesting Niou into the house. "So what's been going on? Why's he visiting you?"

"How should I know?!" Frustrated with the world in general, Niou started pushing Marui and Akaya forcefully out of the house. "He just turned up and starting asking me stuff. Get out, damnit, I don't want you two slavering all over the place."

"We don't _slaver_. What did Shishido ask to get you in such a bad mood?"

"None of your damn business. Out."

The phone began ringing just as Akaya kicked Niou hard in the shin, freeing Marui who'd been in danger of losing his arm to Niou's death-grip. Swearing loudly, Niou hobbled over to the phone and hit the loudspeaker button, lunging after a gleefully triumphant Akaya. "Who is it?" he called over his shoulder.

"'Haru? It's me. I just got your message. Three messages, actually. You'll be happy to know I'm making some popcorn in the microwave as I speak. Is that Akaya I can hear?"

"Mura! In the name of Buddha-sama's flab, about damn bloody time! Get over here _right now_. And tell the bratling and the sugar freak to leave me alone!"

"Can I speak to one of them, then?"

"You're on loudspeaker. Just talk," Niou growled, glaring death at the two invaders who looked far too pleased with themselves.

"Oh, ok. Bunta, Akaya, I think 'Haru probably isn't in the best of moods right now, so-"

"You can say that again! He just got a visit from Shishido, and won't tell us what's going on. But the bad mood has the full go-ahead right now, I'm warning you Mura."

"… Shishido? Hyoutei's Shishido?"

"Yeah, the cap guy. I know, I was surprised too."

"Ah…" Niou could practically hear Yukimura thinking hard and fast. He slumped down onto his favourite armchair again, giving up on trying to grab Akaya.

"Alright," Yukimura said, "I'll tell you two what. If you go annoy Genichiroh for a couple of hours, I'll make sure 'Haru tells you what's going on."

"Like hell!" Niou protested loudly. "Maru, yes, but I'm not telling the bratling zilch!"

"'Haru."

Niou got up and went to the kitchen to make himself some coffee. "Fine," he mumbled as he passed the phone. "Deal. Now tell them to get out."

"Deal. Would you go and annoy Genichiroh, then?"

Marui and Akaya exchanged glances, then Marui said, "Ok, fine, but you'd better make 'Haru spill when we get back."

"I will."

"Is fukubuchou at home?"

"Yes."

"Ok. We'll tell him you sent us."

"Alright. He owes me a favour, you see, so you can annoy him as much as you like while you're there."

"Really?" Akaya looked absolutely delighted. "This is like, the best day _ever_. Origami _and_ permission to annoy fukubuchou to tears!"

"Well, maybe not quite to tears. But yes. Glad to hear you liked the origami."

"Yepyep!"

"See you later, then. Have fun." Yukimura hung up.

Marui and Akaya bounced out, yelling goodbyes to Niou as they left. He ignored them completely, swallowing a mouthful of hot coffee and searching his pockets for a cigarette. Why couldn't all this be happening a few days before he started highschool, instead of one day before? Typical. Just typical.

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"Ah, Shishido-san. Hi! I was just on my way to Jirou-senpai's house. He broke his mother's bracelet and I offered to fix it for him."

"Yeah, I heard from your maid." Shishido fell into step beside the taller boy.

Tilting his head to the side, Choutarou said diplomatically, "You look a little down, Shishido-san. Is there something wrong?"

"What? Oh, right. No, nothing's wrong. Here; I bumped into Niou on the way here and he gave me this for you."

Choutarou looked surprised. "For me?"

"Yeah." Shishido took the card carefully out of his pocket, pleased that it wasn't crumpled, and handed it to him. "It took him like, three hours, apparently."

"Three hours?" Choutarou's eyes widened as he inspected the outside of the card, awed by the sheer amount of hard work that had obviously gone into making the drawing so beautiful. "Wow. It always amazes me how people can draw like that," he said wistfully, opening the card to read the inside.

"Yeah. He can't even draw, you know."

"Wow. And more wow. Read this, Shishido-san." Choutarou held the card out to Shishido and Shishido took it again, pretending to be reading it for the first time.

"That's very kind of him," was his only comment, handing it back. Choutarou nodded, giving a small, shy smile.

"He's not a bad person," he said. "Niou-san, I mean."

Shishido considered this, then said, "I guess not. He… well, he seems to like you a lot, you know?"

Intelligent eyes looked puzzled. "You seem quite keen to sing his praises, Shishido-san. I thought you didn't like him. In fact, I thought you hated him."

"I did! I do! I just…" Shishido shrugged feebly. "Well, I didn't realise how much he genuinely liked you. Maybe you should… see if he wants to go get some coffee with you so you can say thanks sometime."

Startled, Choutarou nearly blushed. "A date? I don't… well, I mean…" He looked at the message inside the card again, and then said uncertainly, "Do you – do you think he'd say yes if I asked?"

"Definitely. Go for it, by all means."

"I…" Choutarou still looked doubtful, but he nodded and smiled a little. "I think I might. It would only be polite, after Niou-san made such an effort to make me this card."

"Yeah, exactly." They'd reached Jirou's front gates, and Shishido halted just outside them. "Well, I'm going to head on home," he said. "I'm kind of tired."

"Alright. Thank you for delivering the card, Shishido-san." Choutarou's eyes sparkled warmly at him, and Shishido gave a friendly nod back.

"See you around. Hope your first day goes well, Choutarou."

"You too." They parted ways, Choutarou still looking at the card.

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"Popcorn and chocolate milk," Yukimura announced, handing both the mentioned items to Niou. "Healthy, delicious and nutritious, I'm sure. I couldn't find any juice, so…"

"Fine. Come in."

Yukimura did so, taking off his coat and shoes and following Niou upstairs into his bedroom.

"Nice to see Akaya's keeping your room tidy," he observed, sitting down on Akaya's futon. Niou sat down opposite, dipping a hand into the bag of popcorn and munching noisily.

"He'd better. Least he could do, I say."

"True. So what's this about Shishido coming to visit, anyway? Your messages said you were confused about something."

"Hell yes." Niou ignored the chocolate milk for the moment, taking another mouthful of hot coffee instead. He offered Yukimura some with a little tilt of the cup, but Yukimura shook his head. "Suit yourself. So, yeah, basically, I could use some help. And my pride's bloody dented enough already, so don't treat me like the bratling, 'k?"

"Do I ever?"

Niou snorted. "Occasionally. Can't think of any off the top of my head, but probably."

Yukimura suppressed a smile. "Alright, I promise."

"Good." Niou shifted around, trying to make himself more comfortable, and failing. He huffed loudly into the waiting silence, and said, "I'm not used to asking for help."

"I know. Just try your best."

"You sound like my old chemistry teacher," Niou muttered. He took one more mouthful of coffee, then started speaking abruptly.

"Basically, this is it. I have this massive crush on Ohtori. I don't believe in falling in love, but this might be pretty damn close to it if I did. But recently, like in the last week, I've been thinking about his angry little doubles partner an awful lot. And at the party four days ago, I got seriously pissed and we started fighting outside in Maru's back alley, and I ended up kissing him. Gave both of us a big fucking shock, I can tell you. Specially since I was so sure up until that point that I hated his guts. I blamed it on the adrenaline and the vodka, but I dunno if that was it."

"Hmm." Yukimura helped himself to some of the chocolate milk, sipping thoughtfully. "It just sounds like you're attracted to Shishido as well. Teenage hormones, right?"

Niou gave him a withering look. "Well, yeah. I figured."

"So what's made you so confused?"

"… Argh, it's hard to explain." Looking frustrated, Niou crunched some more popcorn. "I guess I'm just not so 'in touch with my emotions' as you or the bratling or Maru. This is kind of new to me."

"You had a crush on Yagyuu up until a few months ago."

"Hiroshi was different. This is… I dunno. Different."

Yukimura regarded him in silence for a minute or two. Far more comfortable in Yukimura's presence than Shishido's, Niou was happy to let the quiet drag on as long as it had to, moodily nibbling on the popcorn.

Finally, Yukimura spoke. "More than just physical attraction, you think you're starting to develop feelings for Shishido as well. Which deeply confuses you, because you haven't had the most experience with love and lesser but related emotions in the world and so you don't quite know how to handle it or what you should think. Because from your point of view, a person should only be capable of having feelings for one person at a time, outside of the affection one has for family and close friends. Does that sound about right?"

"… Holy hell," Niou said, gaping at him. "You really _are_ psychic! You sound like one of those newspaper horoscopes. But a lot better, obviously."

Amused, Yukimura smiled. "Well, Pisces is supposed to be the most psychic sign. Although I count it as intuition rather than actual psychic ability."

Quietly awed, an extremely rare occurrence for the cynical Trickster, Niou considered Yukimura's summing-up for a few minutes, staring at the wall vaguely. Eventually, he turned to Yukimura again with a semi-hopeful look on his face. "So… what should I do?"

"Decide which one you like more, and stick to making friends with the other. Because let's face it, Shishido and Ohtori-kun are pretty close, and you'll be hard put to get to know one without the other. So starting a relationship with one and ignoring the other would not be a good idea."

"But… I dunno which one I like more. It's different kinds of like. But… no, actually, it's the same kind… no, wait…"

Yukimura got up, clasping Niou's shoulder briefly and affectionately. "Well, when you work it out, then you'll know what to do," he said. "I need to go; I promised my sister I'd help her with her gardening."

To his surprise, Niou frowned and got up as well. "Can't you stay? We'll get a film or something. I don't really wanna be here by myself when Maru and the bratling get here." '_Please_?' his eyes pleaded.

Yukimura didn't even pause before saying, "Alright, sure. I'll phone home, then, and tell her I'll help her tomorrow."

Relieved, Niou awkwardly mimicked Yukimura's previous clasp on the shoulder. "Thanks, Mura."

"Of course. What are friends for?"

"Annoying me to death, according to the sugar freak," Niou muttered, but his expression held no malice. Yukimura just smiled.

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Sandy: Technically the Japanese call Buddha 'Hotoke-sama' rather than Buddha-sama… but I thought it'd confuse people if I put that ;) The title will be explained… sometime… ;p

It's nice and long to make up for the fact that I haven't updated in over a week and a half :o LOL So yep, here it is, hope you liked it, more is always on the way but you can help it out by reviewing! Please?

Also, if you could be kind enough to quote your favourite bit from this or any other Drabblething in your review, that'd be beyond fantasmicness. n.n Thanks in advance!

And, you know the drill; questions, comments, suggestions/requests, constructive criticism… All are read and loved.

Until next time!


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